Max Mosley, the former Formula One boss, lost his legal challenge to force newspapers to warn people before publishing stories exposing their private lives, after a European court ruled on Tuesday that such as system would have a “chilling effect” on the press.

The ruling by the European court of human rights in Strasbourg will mark the last stage in Mosley’s campaign for tighter privacy laws following revelations about his sex life in the News of the World.

So now, in the “balancing” act between privacy and freedom of the press, privacy loses?

There will undoubtedly be some who rejoice at the protection of the media, but putting aside one’s views of Mr. Mosley’s conduct or predilections, has an opportunity to protect individuals’ privacy from public curiosity or prurient interest been wasted? Does the ECHR really believe that there are sufficient privacy protections in place to protect individuals’ from tabloid journalism that panders to curiosity or prurient interest?